Public Economics
Objectives
The course covers the main goals, areas and tools of government intervention in the economy, from a microeconomic viewpoint.
General characterization
Code
1115
Credits
7.5
Responsible teacher
Paulo Côrte-Real
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
English
Prerequisites
Mandatory precedence: - 1100. Principles of Microeconomics
Bibliography
Jonathan Gruber (2016), Public Finance and Public Policy, Worth Publishers, 5th edition (recommended)
William Thomson (2007), ¿Fair Allocation Rules¿, Rochester Center for Economic Research Working Paper 539. (additional)
Teaching method
Each week there will be two lectures (1.5 hours each) and a practical session (1.5 hours). In addition to attending these sessions, students are
expected to conduct group work and to also complete individual assignments
Evaluation method
The final grade is based on:
A Final Exam
B Midterm (compulsory)
C Group + Individual Assignments: two Group assignments will
be worth 50% of C; an individual assignment will account for the remaining 50%.
The final grade will be 0.5A + 0.25B + 0.25C if A > 8.0;
A if A < 8.0
Subject matter
1 Introduction: the goals of government intervention (Ch 1)
2 Redistribution and Fairness
2-1 Utility-based fairness criteria (Ch 2)
2-2 Preference-based fairness criteria (Thomson)
3 Externalities and Public Goods
3-1 Externalities (Ch 5-6)
3-2 Public Goods (Ch 7)
3-3 Mixed Goods (Ch 11)
3-4 Collective decision-making (Ch 9)
4 Social Insurance
4-1 Benefits and Costs of Insurance (Ch 12)
4-2 Social Security (Ch 13)
4-3 Unemployment Insurance and Poverty-Alleviation Programs
(Ch 14, 17)
4-4 Health Insurance (Ch 15)
5 Taxation
5-1 Equity implications of taxation (Ch 19)
5-2 Efficiency implications of taxation (Ch 20)